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4/28/2008

I'd hoped to have time to write a little about yesterday. Jenn mentioned that there is always plenty to do in Los Angeles if you want to get out of the house. It's very true. I didn't even get to the L.A. Times Festival of Books, which I've wanted to do for years. And I didn't head out to the desert for Coachella, which looks more unappealing as I get old, like Will.

Yesterday, I went on a private photo tour of the Walt Disney Concert Hall (including the main auditorium and backstage!), had lunch at Philippe's, went to a car show in Burbank, and then attended a pet adoption event in North Hollywood. It was fun, but hot, so it was all followed by a long nap.

In prepping for Maker Faire, I don't have time right now to go into more details or even post any of the many photos I took. I hope to catch up soon!

4/26/2008

I know there is a lot going on this weekend, but I'm spending my time getting ready for next weekend. I'll be up north in San Mateo for the 2008 Maker Faire. E and I participated in the first one last year, so I speak from experience when I tell you that it's a great time and worth the trip!

This year is a little different in that instead of E having two exhibits, at which I helped, and us having one shared exhibit, we each have our own! E will be displaying various 3D wonders at his booth, as well as a drive-in movie on Saturday night. I will hold workshops on making craft hamsters. I'm hoping they are as popular with the kids as they are with a friend's son.

We are both looking forward to this event, but have a lot to get done in the next few days before leaving for the Bay Area. If you make it to the faire, please come by and say hi and maybe even make a hamster!

4/21/2008

I know times are rough and gas is really frakking expensive. So, it's probably a good thing to start making some charitable donations you can deduct on your taxes next year, right?

Okay, so I'm not so good at the sales pitch thing, but here goes:

Rusty and I are participating in the upcoming Walk For Kids that raises money for the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House. It's a really great cause that I can attest to. If anyone wants more information on that, please feel free to contact me privately. Rusty's friend and fellow therapy animal, Oreo The Rabbit formed a team that we joined. We'd appreciate any donations that anyone is willing and able to make. You can click on the icon below to be routed to our donation page. Email me with any queestions and please forward this to anyone you know who might like to help out.

4/20/2008

In spite of having those exact thoughts this weekend and instead of completely getting rid of something I really enjoy, I'm just going to strive for a bit more balance in my life. Sort of like Slackmistress, but different. One thing I am dropping is the April '08 version of NaBloPoMo. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I committed to doing it. I have a lot of prep work I need to be doing this month for upcoming events and daily blogging can not be a priority. (Hence, some of the crap I've substituted for actual content thus far this month). I will be continuing with the photo Project 365, where I take a photo every day and post it to flickr and my photoblog. And even though I stopped following a few folks and turned off all notifications, I'll be sending occasional tweets and catching up at Twitter from time to time.

I often complain that I don't have enough time to get things done and I don't understand how other people are so productive. If I take into account the hours spent reading blogs, etc. online, I actually do seem to have some free time. I have a full time career that, while rewarding, that is often physically, mentally, and emotionally draining. Outside of work, I have some creative pursuits that often get the shaft when I'm so busy reading up on the latest exploits of strangers' kids and pets, or living vicariously through someone vacationing in faraway lands. It's not to say I won't be reading blogs anymore, but I am going to be more selective and self-limiting in the time I spend doing so. Wish me luck on that!

A couple of problems I have are obsessing on things and tending to see things as all-or-nothing. So, this leads to me thinking that if I'm going to be so involved in the internet, I'd better be doing so all the way. Read every blog I like (and comment), stay caught up (to the minute) on every one's lives through twitter, and regularly view (and comment on) photos on flickr. My gut reaction to remedy this issue is to just not do it AT ALL. Well, that is unrealistic and would honestly, make me very unhappy. My online presence may not be as consistent, but that probably just means I'm getting stuff done and will have good things to write about.

Speaking of scaling back some, I'm reminded of a recent conversation I had with my mother on how raising kids has changed:

Me: Well, yeah, times have changed. I mean, you smoked and drank when you were pregnant with me.

Mom: True, but the doctor said I didn't have to quit, just cut back. So that's what I did. I cut back to 5 cigarettes a day. And a glass of Cold Duck.

4/18/2008

Be careful. Please. Maybe you could pay better attention from time to time and not have such stupid accidents. Granted, it does seem to be hereditary in your family. Your mother and sister have had their share of injuries during normally safe, mundane activities such as walking up stairs or vacuuming. This week alone, you:

Fell flat on your face at 5 in the morning, scraping your leg on the metal door on one of the dog crates. You were lying on the floor thinking that since E was out of town, it was probably a bad time to break your body. Luckily, you were okay. Just a little scraped and bruised. But, that is par for the course.

As you walked from the hallway to the living room, you caught your wedding band on the doorknob bolt and continued traveling forward. It felt like your finger was being ripped off. At least you were smart enough to move the ring to another finger before swelling occured.

I suppose all of this started, many years ago, when you were about 3 or 4 years old and took that big tumble down the flight of stairs in your house. Luckily, everything was fine, but it did lead to your first, and amazingly only (so far), ambulance ride.

As a child, there were also the incidents of the foot getting caught in the adult bicycle spokes and the arm getting a little sliced up on the metal fan, but, again, you were quite lucky that no permanent damage was done. But, just about every child has freak accidents. It's those you've had as a "grown up" that are extraordinary. Here are a few more:

A couple of years ago, your sister and her husband were coming for a visit. You were frantically straightening up the house. In a moment of moving in way too high speed, you ran smack dab into the door jamb--with your face. Ow. There was pain and swelling, but perhaps the worst part was the embarrassment.

You often do things like leaving all of the lights off if going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, so you don't "wake up too much." Whatever that means. One time you did this and since you were kind of bleary and not very awake, instead of making a right turn to exit the bathroom, you walked straight into the bathtub. Your feet hit the tub and you pitched forward over the side. Your protective extension responses kicked in and your arms flew out in order to stop the falling and save your head and brain. Your shoulders and upper back were very sore for several days.

The one accident in the past 15 years that led to an ER visit happened on a weekend morning. Your apartment at that time had a small closet in the kitchen with pantry shelves, a stacked washer and dryer, and a garbage can. There was a box on top of the trash, so you leaned over and pushed it down (I guess you didn't recycle so much back then). As you did that, the powdered laundry detergent that had been spilled on top, and that you were oblivious to, flew up into your eyes. It burned, you screamed and E helped you rinse them as best he could and then drove you to the hospital. The doctor explained that laundry detergents are made to dissolve protein and the eye is essentially...yes, a big glob of protein. You had done a good job of rinsing one eye, but the other had superficial burns. Again, there was no lasting injury to the eye. Just a day patched with restricted visual activity.

Those are just a few examples of your clumsiness. E has said things like, "I can't believe you get paid to teach kids to walk!" Usually you are face down on the carpet at that point. At least in the above cases, the causes of the scrapes, sprains, or melty eyeballs are known. The number of mystery bruises on your person at any given time is quite astounding.

4/15/2008

I know theone-lineupdates from my cell phone have been a lame excuse for posting. I've been busy. It's going to get even busier over the next few months, which isn't a bad thing. I'll spare you photos of our tax receipts, but here are a few of the other things that have been occupying my time:

I also worked for ten hours this past Saturday and that shortened the weekend. On top of everything else, some of which I haven't even touched on, I have a relatively new intern working with me and that makes things a little more hectic during my days. I'm slowly trying to get around to seeing what all of you have been up to as well.

It's been a busy--and short--weekend. I can't believe I have to be back at work in less than seven hours. Therefore, I'm again just writing a short blurb. We spent the last few hours at the show and collective nerdgasm that was Bear McCreary and his Battlestar Galactica concert. It was so.very.cool. It's good to live in L.A. when you're a nerd.

4/10/2008

I haven't even gotten around to posting about last weekend which involved riding the subway, musical theater, late night burgers, French dip sandwiches, lectures about interactive art, a 50th birthday party complete with arts & crafts AND a puppy!, and a comedy show. Even though this weekend involves completing taxes, working on Saturday, laundry, and cleaning, there will be some music and hopefully animals.

4/08/2008

I'm too tired and whatever to go with the 'letters' theme today. Instead, I'm just going to post a few photos I took in my back yard yesterday. I could spend hours in my yard taking pictures. The subjects are often the same--dogs, squirrels, birds, flowers, bees--but the results vary.

Click on photos to see biggr in flickr:

Busy Bee

Holyfield, the squirrel, snacking on carob pods.

Little Guy, self-proclaimed back yard sheriff.

On an unrelated note, I've been thoroughly enjoying the new R.E.M. album Accelerate. I'm not sure if it's because I've been hormonal and emotional the past few days, but I keep tearing up when I listen to it. I especially like "Supernatural Superserious" and "Hollow Man." I can't wait until May 28th!

4/07/2008

What's the deal? You've been sitting there for at least four days now. Your rear end is precariously close to the end of my driveway, so there is the chance that it will end up in as bad of shape as the front. Not only is that pissing me off, but you've made it impossible for ME to street park in front of my own home, which is what I normally do. This happens from time to time and I'm okay with that, but you clearly have not been driven or moved in several days now. I'm also wondering where in the hell I'm going to put my garbage and recycling bins tonight since you're right in the way of that too.

All I can say is that I hope you stay there until Thursday and get a ticket during street cleaning hours. After that, if you're still hanging out, I'm going to be that obnoxious person who reports you and gets your ass towed.

Love,Jodi (currently pretty hormonal and a bit grouchy, as if not obvious)

4/06/2008

We're through. I do like your yogurt and your convenience. I was initially skeptical about your tart treat, but came to love it. Just as I've enjoyed the similar products at Snowberry, Red Mango, and the random boba shop.

I only recently learned about Menchie's, a frozen yogurt place in Valley Village. Not only do they have a variety of flavors besides plain/tart, but it is self-serve. Apparently, the flavors rotate, so I'll be curious to return and try other things. There are also A LOT of toppings.

I got a small, which was a pretty decent size cup and filled it with both banana and chocolate non-fat frozen yogurt. I added bananas, mochi, nonpareils, and mini chocolate chips. My friend tried a little of all 9 or 10 flavors. We weighed our concoctions together and the total was less than $10. I pay $4-something for my usual at p-berry, so I'd say price is comparable. Granted if you get a medium or large and really pack stuff in, I'm sure it gets pricey. But, dude, who really needs to eat THAT much?

I'll definitely go back. Maybe tomorrow. Ha! Oh, and I'm sure I'll still stop by the others from time to time, especially since they are so much more prevalent. If I have a choice though, it's Menchie's.

I love you. You have so much to offer and I've taken advantage of much of it in the past two days. In fact, I'm too exhausted to recap anything at this point. There is also more on tap, as my weekend is only half over. Hopefully, this will give me material for a big fat puffy post tomorrow.

Later,Jodi

P.S. For some of my NaBloPoMo entries, I've back timed them so I have a post every date. I'm often not able to write until close to or after midnight. E has always said, "If you haven't gone to bed yet, it's still today." I sort of buy that, so I'll keep the dates and times honest from now on. So, on some dates there will no posts and on others there will be more than one.

4/04/2008

Welcome back! I've missed you, but it was worth the wait. True to form, you ended the "to be continued" episode on a cliffhanger. While I look forward to finding out the answers to many of your questions, I want to savor this, your last, season. So, take your time and do it right, please. Apparently, that's the plan as we're only getting half of the episodes to start with no confirmed time frame for the second part. Just don't keep us hanging for too long.

4/02/2008

E as in "Excellent," which is the award bestowed upon me by my perky friend Nanette of Say It, Don't Spray It. I was a little surprised, but also very honored. I don't remember exactly how I stumbled upon Nanette's blog, but her posts often make me laugh out loud. And even better than that, we have gotten to know each other in the real world and I'm very happy to call her my friend.

Part of the deal with this special recognition is that I now give a shout-out to 10 of my favorite bloggers. You'll see the sites that I like to read aren't necessarily the most popular. I'm certainly small potatoes in the big blogosphere and I'm okay with that. If you see a link below that you don't recognize, go ahead and click. You might find something you like.

My Top 10 Most Excellent Blogs (as least as of today), in ABC order:

Ambitious Hamster: Not really a hamster, but a crafty designer who lives in the Midwest and likes cookies. She also likes cats, but we all have our quirks. While I haven't had the good fortune to meet Ms. Hamster in person, I have met her father and he's lovely.

Franklin Avenue: Mike and Maria write one of my favorite L.A.-centric blogs. From the restaurant reviews to local news items to ticket giveaways, this site is chock full of handy information. I keep waiting to show up in the License Plate of the Day feature.

jozjozjoz: Joz is another L.A. blogger who has her finger on the pulse of the city. Joz is plugged in and connected. She is one of the few people I know who is usually busier than I am and shares my bad habits of staying up too late and playing video games.

justJENN rants & raves: In spite of her love for Rick Astley and hatred of hand sewing, I love Jenn. She loves Los Angeles and her posts about L.A., cooking, her family, The Office, and all things cute are usually more full of snark than most of mine. I'm lucky to know Jenn in the real world and appreciate her friendship A LOT.

Not Content To Crawl: Nicole likes hamsters, 24, shopping at Target, and The Cure. She is also a great photographer whose nature work inspires me. Is it no wonder that we get along?

Stan's Obligatory Blog: Stan is another local blogger who I've had the pleasure of meeting in person. He goes on really long bike rides and photographs abandoned couches he meets along the way.

The Slack Daily: Face to face, Nina is pretty much like you'd expect from reading her words. Down-to-earth, yet sophisticated at the same time. I don't really know how to describe her more than that, but I dare you to not be entertained by her writing.

This Is So Silly: My dear friend Ren is far from silly. My head is often spinning when I finish reading her posts as I've never heard of some of the bands, tv shows, books, or movies she's written about. Except for some of them that she's introduced me to. She was the first reader of my blog and for that, I thank her. And also for the chocolate cupcakes. She knows the truth about me & sci-fi.

Vintage Caveman: More articulate than your stereotypical caveman. I was introduced to the Vintage Caveman as 'The Hamster Queen' by The Slackmistress when he posted something about his ham-ham. He also gets my Animal Crossing references on Twitter. (Don't forget--Flea Market this Saturday!)

Willow Grace: I think Mad and I discovered each other's blogs through our participation in various photo challenges. She's a great photographer and a prolific crafter. We met in the Bay Area last year and will hopefully get to connect again next month.

4/01/2008

I'm sorry I did not believe you when you told me you are pregnant today. Congratulations, for real. It's just that I've had this joke played on me on this very date before. Besides that, you aren't one of the dozen people I know who are so desperately trying to get knocked up. While I know the timing of this isn't necessarily ideal, I truly wish you nothing but the very best!